Researchers warned that imposing fixed salary levels across the country led to serious staff vacancies and underperformance in more affluent areas where private sector pay was higher.

It was claimed that national pay in state schools – a system fiercely protected by teaching unions – resulted in an average drop of one GCSE grade per pupil as schools struggled to recruit and retain good teachers.

Pupils in areas such as the Home Counties and leafy suburbs surrounding major cities such as Manchester and Birmingham were most likely to be hit, researchers warned.

Prof Carol Propper, from Bristol University’s Centre for Market and Public Organisation, which published the study, said the findings presented “strong evidence” that national salary scales had a “negative impact on pupils’ learning”.

George Osborne, the Chancellor, has already announced plans to rip up national pay bargaining for millions of teachers, nurses and civil servants. Under plans, wages would be pegged against local private sector pay scales in each region to save money and drive economic growth.

In a separate move, the Department for Education is also considering radical proposals for a new system of performance related pay to reward top teachers.

The proposals have sparked outrage among unions who threatened a wave of strikes to oppose changes to national pay scales.

But Prof Propper said: “The nature of teaching in England means a large proportion of the work is discretionary – time spent lesson planning, engagement in after-school programmes, time invested in particular children – so there is scope for reductions in effort in response to lower relative wages.

“Our findings present strong evidence that the centralised wage setting of teachers’ pay has a negative impact on pupils’ learning.”

Average classroom teachers currently receive £34,700 a year.

At the moment, salaries are fixed at the same level across England, although staff in and around London receive up to £5,000 more to reflect the higher cost of living in the capital.

In the latest study, academics analysed exam results from almost 3,300 schools staffed by 200,000 teachers between 2002 and 2008. They also compared staff salaries in schools to average wage levels among other adults working within a 30km radius.

The study showed that a 10 per cent increase in the local average wage outside schools – relative to teachers’ salaries – resulted in a “loss of one exam grade per pupil in the high-stakes end of secondary school examinations”.

Prof Propper said that major problems existed in more affluent areas, where low wages created large numbers of staff vacancies and pushed “high ability” teachers towards other careers or elsewhere in the country where take-home pay stretched further.

In some areas such as the North East teachers earn significantly more than the average for employees in other industries, the study found.

But Prof Propper warned that any benefit associated with high teacher pay in these regions was significantly outweighed by the underperformance of relatively poorly-paid staff in more affluent counties.

“We find that regulation decreases educational output,” said the study. “Schools add less value to their pupils in areas where the outside option for teachers is higher.”

Prof Pepper said many teachers were willing to put up with this in London because of the “kudos” of living in the capital, but added: “I think the real problem comes in the south-eastern fringes where housing is expensive but there is not the attraction of London itself.”